Sialkot is genuinely excellent at sportswear, and it is also full of middlemen presenting as factories. Both are true, and these ten questions sort them quickly.
1. Which stages are in-house? Ask them to name the machines. 'We do everything' with no specifics means outsourcing.
2. Can you show me the floor live, on video? A trading company always has a reason the camera cannot turn on today.
3. Who owns the sublimation printer? Sewing shops routinely buy printed rolls from a neighbour, which silently adds a day or two and a margin to every order.
4. How many embroidery heads, and what brand? A real number and a real brand (Tajima, Barudan, ZSK) is a tell. 'We have embroidery' is not.
5. Which audits, and may I see the certificate with the factory name on it? Certificates issued to a trading name at a shared address mean a shared address.
6. What does a sample cost, and is it credited? A factory uses samples to win your business. A broker uses them to bill you.
7. How do you QC, and who does it? 'Two people check at the end' is honest and often fine. Nobody is not.
8. What happens if 40 pieces arrive wrong? Get the remedy in writing, including who pays freight. Vagueness here predicts exactly how the eventual dispute goes.
9. May I speak to two buyers in my market? If the answer is no, you already have your answer.
10. Why do you want our business? Self-serving, but revealing. Good factories talk about reorders, fit and wash results. Bad ones talk only about price.
We invite all ten. Ask us first, then ask everyone else — the comparison is the entire point.
